2017–18 Esteghlal F.C. season

Esteghlal F.C.
2017–18 season
President	Amir hosein fat’hi
Head coach	Winfried Schäfer
Stadium	Azadi Stadium
Iran Pro League	3rd
Hazfi Cup	Champions
AFC Champions League	Round of 16
Top goalscorer	League: Ali Ghorbani (7); All: Mame Thiam (12)
Highest home attendance	85,000
Lowest home attendance	0
Average home league attendance	27,200
	← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 season is Esteghlal Football Club's 72nd season in existence and the club's 17th consecutive season in the top division of Iranian football. It covers a period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.

Players[edit]

Squad information[edit]

Players and squad numbers last updated on 8 July 2017.

No.	Name	Position(s)	Date of Birth (Age)	Signed in	Contract until	Signed from	Notes
Goalkeepers
1	Mehdi Rahmati	GK	(1983-02-02)2 February 1983 (aged 34)	2015	2019	Paykan	Captain
19	Arshia Babazadeh ^U23	GK	(1995-11-05)5 November 1995 (aged 22)	2016	2022	De Anza Force
22	Hossein Hosseini	GK	(1992-06-30)30 June 1992 (aged 25)	2012	2019	Youth system
Defenders
2	Khosro Heydari	RB / RM / RW	(1983-09-14)14 September 1983 (aged 34)	2011	2019	Sepahan	Vice-captain
4	Roozbeh Cheshmi	DM / CB / CM	(1993-07-24)24 July 1993 (aged 24)	2015	2019	Saba Qom
5	Majid Hosseini ^U23	CB / DM	(1996-06-20)20 June 1996 (aged 21)	2014	2019	Youth system
13	Armin Sohrabian ^U23	LB / CB	(1995-07-26)26 July 1995 (aged 22)	2017	2019	Sepahan
18	Milad Zakipour ^U23	LB / LM	(1995-11-23)23 November 1995 (aged 22)	2016	2021	Naft Tehran
21	Vouria Ghafouri	RB / RM	(1987-09-20)20 September 1987 (aged 30)	2016	2018	Sepahan
33	Pejman Montazeri	CB / RB	(1983-09-06)6 September 1983 (aged 34)	2017	2019	Al Ahli
90	Leandro Padovani Celin	CB	(1983-12-21)21 December 1983 (aged 34)	2016	2018	Sepahan
Midfielders
6	Omid Ebrahimi	DM / CM	(1987-09-15)15 September 1987 (aged 30)	2014	2018	Sepahan
14	Farshid Bagheri	DM / CB / CM	(1992-06-05)5 June 1992 (aged 25)	2016	2018	Saba Qom
16	Mehdi Ghaedi ^U21	LW / RW	(1998-12-05)5 December 1998 (aged 19)	2017	2020	Iranjavan
20	Server Djeparov	AM / CM / LM	(1982-10-03)3 October 1982 (aged 35)	2017	2018	Lokomotiv Tashkent
23	Dariush Shojaeian	RW / LW / AM	(1992-04-07)7 April 1992 (aged 25)	2017	2020	Gostaresh Foulad
24	Omid Noorafkan ^U21	DM / LB / LW	(1997-04-09)9 April 1997 (aged 20)	2015	2019	Youth system
28	Mohsen Karimi	LW / RW	(1994-09-20)20 September 1994 (aged 23)	2014	2020	Youth system
77	Behnam Barzay	RW / LW	(1993-02-11)11 February 1993 (aged 24)	2015	2020	Rah Ahan
80	Bojan Najdenov	CM	(1991-08-27)27 August 1991 (aged 26)	2018	2019	Smouha
88	Farshid Esmaeili	AM / LW / SS	(1994-02-23)23 February 1994 (aged 23)	2015	2020	Fajr Sepasi
Forwards
9	Ali Ghorbani	CF / LW / RW	(1990-09-18)18 September 1990 (aged 27)	2016	2018	Naft Tehran
11	Jaber Ansari	SS / LW	(1987-01-10)10 January 1987 (aged 30)	2015	2019	Gostaresh Foulad
25	Mame Baba Thiam	CF	(1992-10-09)9 October 1992 (aged 25)	2018	2019	Juventus^[1]
Players transferred during the season
30	Azim Gök ^U23	CB	(1996-01-25)25 January 1996 (aged 21)	2016	2019	Youth system
17	Yaghoub Karimi	LB / LM	(1991-08-31)31 August 1991 (aged 26)	2014	2018	Sepahan
8	Mojtaba Jabbari	AM	(1983-06-16)16 June 1983 (aged 34)	2017	2019	Al Ahli
7	Hassan Beyt Saeed	LW / CF / RW	(1990-04-01)1 April 1990 (aged 27)	2017	2019	Esteghlal Khuzestan
10	Sajjad Shahbazzadeh	CF	(1990-01-23)23 January 1990 (aged 27)	2017	2018	Naft Tehran

Persian Gulf League Squad[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1‌	GK	IRN	Mehdi Rahmati (Captain)
2	DF	IRN	Khosro Heydari (Vice-captain)
4	MF	IRN	Roozbeh Cheshmi
5	DF	IRN	Majid Hosseini
6	MF	IRN	Omid Ebrahimi (3rd-captain)
9	FW	IRN	Ali Ghorbani
11	FW	IRN	Jaber Ansari
13	DF	IRN	Armin Sohrabian
14	MF	IRN	Farshid Bagheri
16	MF	IRN	Mehdi Ghaedi
18	DF	IRN	Milad Zakipour
19	GK	IRN	Arshia Babazadeh
20	MF	UZB	Server Djeparov


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	DF	IRN	Vouria Ghafouri
22	GK	IRN	Hossein Hosseini
23	MF	IRN	Dariush Shojaeian
24	MF	IRN	Omid Noorafkan
25	FW	SEN	Mame Thiam
28	MF	IRN	Mohsen Karimi
33	DF	IRN	Pejman Montazeri
70	FW	IRN	Mohammad Javad Mohammadi
77	MF	IRN	Behnam Barzay
80	MF	MKD	Bojan Najdenov
88	MF	IRN	Farshid Esmaeili
90	DF	BRA	Padovani

AFC Champions League Squad[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1‌	GK	IRN	Mehdi Rahmati (Captain)
2	DF	IRN	Khosro Heydari (Vice-captain)
4	MF	IRN	Roozbeh Cheshmi
5	DF	IRN	Majid Hosseini
6	MF	IRN	Omid Ebrahimi (3rd-captain)
7	FW	SEN	Mame Thiam
8	MF	IRN	Farshid Esmaeili
9	FW	IRN	Ali Ghorbani
10	MF	MKD	Bojan Najdenov
11	FW	IRN	Jaber Ansari
13	DF	IRN	Armin Sohrabian
14	MF	IRN	Farshid Bagheri
16	MF	IRN	Mehdi Ghaedi


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	DF	IRN	Milad Zakipour
19	GK	IRN	Arshia Babazadeh
20	MF	UZB	Server Djeparov
21	DF	IRN	Vouria Ghafouri
22	GK	IRN	Hossein Hosseini
23	MF	IRN	Dariush Shojaeian
24	MF	IRN	Omid Noorafkan
28	MF	IRN	Mohsen Karimi
33	DF	IRN	Pejman Montazeri
70	FW	IRN	Mohammad Javad Mohammadi
77	MF	IRN	Behnam Barzay
90	DF	BRA	Padovani

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

No.	Pos.	Name	Age	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Source
16	LM	Mehdi Ghaedi	18	Iranjavan	Transfer	Summer	2020	^[2]
26	CF	Fardin Najafi	19	Esteghlal Academy	Promotion	Summer	2020	^[3]
27	AM	Hossein Heydari	18	Esteghlal Academy	Promotion	Summer	2022	^[4]
7	LW	Hassan Beyt Saeed	27	Esteghlal Khuzestan	Transfer	Summer	2019	^[5]
10	CF	Sajjad Shahbazzadeh	27	Naft Tehran	Transfer	Summer	2018	^[6]
23	AM	Dariush Shojaeian	25	Gostaresh Foulad	Transfer	Summer	2020	^[7]
32	DM	Sina Khadempour	20	Naft Tehran	Transfer	Summer	2022	^[8]
33	CB	Pejman Montazeri	33	Al Ahli	Transfer	Summer	2019	^[9]
70	RW	Mohammad Javad Mohammadi	21	Haf Semnan	Transfer	Summer	2022	^[10]
13	LB	Armin Sohrabian	21	Sepahan	Transfer	Summer	2019	^[11]
8	AM	Mojtaba Jabari	34	Al Ahli	Transfer	Summer	2019	^[12]
77	LW	Sajjad Aghaei	18	Persepolis Academy	Transfer	Summer	2022	^[13]
20	AM	Server Djeparov	34	Sepahan	End of loan	Summer	2018	^[14]
77	RW	Behnam Barzay	24	Unattached	Transfer	Winter	2020	^[15]
80	CM	Bojan Najdenov	26	Smouha	Transfer	Winter	2019	^[16]
25	CF	Mame Thiam	26	Juventus	Transfer	Winter	2019	^[17]

Out[edit]

No.	Pos.	Name	Age	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Source
5	CB	Hossein Kanaanizadegan	23	Saipa	Released	Summer	^[18]
20	CB	Taha Shariati	17	Saipa	Transfer	Summer	^[19]
31	CB	Alireza Sayyar	23	Unattached	Released	Summer	^[20]
27	DM	Hossein Abarghouei	20	Gostaresh Foulad	Transfer	Summer	^[21]
13	LW	Miad Yazdani	24	Sepidrood Rasht	Loan	Summer	^[22]^[23]
9	CF	Kaveh Rezaei	25	Charleroi	End of contract	Summer	^[24]
74	AM	Mojtaba Haghdoust	21	Naft Tehran	End of loan	Summer
3	CB	Róbson Januário de Paula	23	Bahia	End of loan	Summer
77	RW	Behnam Barzay	24	Sanat Naft Abadan	End of contract	Summer
12	LB	Mohammad Reza Hashemi	20	Shemushack	Transfer	Summer
	GK	Mehrdad Lashni	19	Mes Rafsanjan	Transfer	Summer	^[25]
32	DM	Sina Khadempour	20	Naft Tehran	Loan	Summer	^[26]
77	LW	Sajjad Aghaei	18	Aluminium Arak	Loan	Summer	^[27]
7	LW	Hassan Beyt Saeed	27	Foolad	Transfer	Winter	^[28]
30	CB	Azim Gök	21	Malavan	Loan	Winter	^[29]
17	LM	Yaghoub Karimi	26	Esteghlal Khuzestan	Transfer	Winter	^[30]
8	AM	Mojtaba Jabari	34	Unattached	Released	Winter	^[31]
10	CF	Sajjad Shahbazzadeh	27	Qatar	Transfer	Winter	^[32]
15	CB	Hrayr Mkoyan	31	Shirak	Transfer	Winter

Pre-season and friendlies[edit]

1 July 2017 (2017-07-01) 1	Esteghlal	1 – 0	Nassaji	Tehran, Iran
18:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	H. Beyt Saeed	Report

10 July 2017 (2017-07-10) 2	Esteghlal	2 – 0	Pars Jonoubi	Yerevan, Armenia
18:30 AMT (UTC+04:00)	S. Shahbazzadeh 68' A. Ghorbani 83'	Report		Stadium: Yerevan Football Academy Attendance: 400

15 July 2017 (2017-07-15) 3	Ararat	1 – 2	Esteghlal	Yerevan, Armenia
18:30 AMT (UTC+04:00)	88'	Report	A. Ghorbani 20', 42'	Stadium: Yerevan Football Academy Attendance: 200

22 July 2017 (2017-07-22) 4	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Baadraan	Tehran, Iran
18:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Jaber Ansari 57'	Report	Saeed Vasei 43'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0

Competitions[edit]

Overview[edit]

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Pro League	28 July 2017	27 April 2018	—	3rd	30	15	9	6	43	18	+25	050.00
Hazfi Cup	8 September 2017	3 May 2018	Round of 32	Winners	5	5	0	0	10	3	+7	100.00
AFC Champions League	30 January 2018	15 May 2018	Group stage	Round of 16	8	4	3	1	12	7	+5	050.00
Total					43	24	12	7	65	28	+37	055.81

Last updated: 16 May 2018 (2018-05-16).
Source: Competitions

Iran Pro League[edit]

Standings[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Persepolis (C)	30	19	7	4	48	15	+33	64	Qualification for the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage
2	Zob Ahan	30	15	10	5	46	30	+16	55	Qualification for the 2019 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs
3	Esteghlal	30	15	9	6	43	18	+25	54	Qualification for 2020 AFC Champions League group stage^[a]
4	Saipa	30	15	9	6	40	34	+6	54	Qualification for the 2019 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs
5	Pars Jonoubi Jam	30	11	14	5	34	24	+10	47

Updated to match(es) played on April 13, 2018. Source: IPL Stats, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[33]
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ Esteghlal qualified to AFC Champions League group stage directly by winning the Hazfi Cup

Results summary[edit]


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
30	15	9	6	43	18	+25	54	10	4	1	29	7	+22	5	5	5	14	11	+3

Last updated: 3 May 2018.
Source: Ipl Stats

Results by round[edit]

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	L	D	W	L	L	L	D	W	D	L	W	D	W	D	W	W	W	D	D	D	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W
Position	13	11	9	11	15	15	16	10	12	13	11	11	9	8	8	6	5	4	5	6	6	6	6	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

Updated to match(es) played on 26 January 2018. Source: "Ipl".
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches[edit]

Win Draw Loss Postponed

28 July 2017 (2017-07-28) 1	Sanat Naft	1 – 0	Esteghlal	Abadan
21:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	J. Karrar 18' M. Shadkam 41'	Report		Stadium: Takhti Abadan Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Mouood Bonyadifar

4 August 2017 (2017-08-04) 2	Esteghlal	0 – 0	Esteghlal Khuzestan	Tehran
21:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Zakipour 91' S. Shahbazzadeh 93'	Report	H. Bahrami 19' A. Alaei 84' Y. Delfi 86'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 26,000 Referee: Vahid Kazemi

11 August 2017 (2017-08-11) 3	Esteghlal	1 – 0	Tractor Sazi	Tehran
20:45 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Djeparov 42' Shojaeian 67'	Report	Taheran 41'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 61,000 Referee: Bijan Heydari Man of the Match: Server Djeparov

17 August 2017 (2017-08-17) 4	Saipa	1 – 0	Esteghlal	Tehran
20:45 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Abbaszadeh 58' (pen.) 58' Shahalidoost 78' Akhbari 90+3'	Report	Rahmati 57' Cheshmi 80'	Stadium: Takhti Stadium Attendance: 27,000 Referee: Mohammad Zahedifar Man of the Match: Mohammad Abbaszadeh

22 August 2017 (2017-08-22) 5	Esteghlal	0 – 2	Padideh	Tehran
18:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	H. Beyt Saeed 41'	Report	Mohammad Ghazi 15' Hossein Mehraban 72'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Alireza Faghani Man of the Match: Mohammad Ghazi

15 September 2017 (2017-09-15) 6	Pars Jonoubi Jam	2 – 0	Esteghlal	Jam
20:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Ali Dashti 38' Farshad Salarvand 90+6'	Report	Roozbeh Cheshmi 33' F. Bagheri 85' H. Hosseini 90'	Stadium: Takhti Stadium Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Mohammad Seyed Ali Man of the Match: Ali Dashti

20 September 2017 (2017-09-20) 7	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Zob Ahan	Tehran
20:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Cheshmi 12' 93' Padovani 90'	Report	NejadMehdi 78'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Payam Heydari

26 September 2017 (2017-09-26) 8	Sepidrood	1 – 2	Esteghlal	Rasht
16:15 IRST (UTC+03:30)	ebrahimi 86' (pen.)		Jaber Ansari 53' Majid Hosseini 54' Dariush Shojaeian 68' Heydari 84'	Stadium: Sardar Jangal stadium Attendance: 6,000

13 October 2017 (2017-10-13) 9	Esteghlal	0 – 0	Foolad	Tehran
17:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	Cheshmi 95'	Report		Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 30,000

20 October 2017 (2017-10-20) 10	Persepolis	1 – 0	Esteghlal	Tehran
15:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Alipour 23' (pen.)		Cheshmi 22' Farshid Bagheri 50' Omid Ebrahimi 59' Vouria Ghafouri 87' Milad Zakipour 89' Farshid Esmaeili 96' Dariush Shojaeian 96'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 85,000

31 October 2017 (2017-10-31) 11	Esteghlal	2 – 0	Naft Tehran	Tehran
17:45 IRST (UTC+03:30)	Mohammadizadeh 56' (og.) Farshid Bagheri 62'} J. Ansari 66'			Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 18,000

15 November 2017 (2017-11-15) 12	Siah Jamegan	0 – 0	Esteghlal	Mashhad
14:45 IRST (UTC+03:30)	Amraei 76' Badamaki 77' Seifollahi 82' Malekian 82'	Report	Esmaeili 18' Djeparov 49' Ghaedi 84'	Stadium: Samen Stadium Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Mehdi Seyedali

25 November 2017 (2017-11-25) 13	Esteghlal	2 – 0	Gostaresh	Tehran
17:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	F. Esmaeili 63', 86'			Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: N/C

30 November 2017 (2017-11-30) 14	Paykan	0 – 0	Esteghlal	Shahr-e Qods
15:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)				Stadium: Shahr-e Qods Stadium

6 December 2017 (2017-12-06) 15	Esteghlal	3 – 0	Sepahan	Tehran
17:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Ghorbani 4' S. Djeparov 36', 47'			Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 25,000

22 December 2017 (2017-12-22) 16	Esteghlal	4 – 0	Sanat Naft	Tehran
17:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Karimi 15', 42', 67' D. Shojaeian 55'} Milad Zakipour 63'			Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 15,000

28 December 2017 (2017-12-28) 17	Esteghlal Khuzestan	0 – 3	Esteghlal	Ahvaz
16:25 IRST (UTC+03:30)			V. Ghafouri 7' M. Karimi 61' O.G 48' Djeparov 61' R. Cheshmi 15', 73'	Stadium: Ghadir Stadium

5 January 2018 (2018-01-05) 18	Tractor Sazi	0 – 0	Esteghlal	Tabriz
14:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)				Stadium: Yadegar-e Emam Stadium Attendance: 38,000

12 January 2018 (2018-01-12) 19	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Saipa	Tehran
16:35 IRST (UTC+03:30)	D. Shojaeian 23' F. Bagheri 50' Noorafkan 71'			Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 33,000

19 January 2018 (2018-01-19) 20	Padideh	0 – 0	Esteghlal	Mashhad
15:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)			M. Hosseini 74' B. Barzay 83' Ali Ghorbani 89'	Stadium: Samen Stadium Attendance: 35,000

25 January 2018 (2018-01-25) 21	Esteghlal	4 – 0	Pars Jonoubi Jam	Tehran
16:50 IRST (UTC+03:30)	S. Djebarov 4' B. Barzay 31' A. Ghorbani 34', 48', 65' Noorafkan 41'			Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 24,000

4 February 2018 (2018-02-04) 22	Zob Ahan	2 – 1	Esteghlal	Isfahan
17:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)			V. Ghafouri 31' M. Hosseini 59' B. Barzay 67' Cheshmi 85' Shojaeian 87'	Stadium: Foolad Shahr

8 February 2018 (2018-02-08) 23	Esteghlal	3 – 0	Sepidrood	Tehran
18:15 IRST (UTC+03:30)	F. Esmaeili 14' O. Ebrahimi 64' J. Ansari 42', 77'			Stadium: Azadi Stadium

24 February 2018 (2018-02-24) 24	Foolad	1 – 4	Esteghlal	Ahvaz
16:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	Rahim Zahivi 12'		M. Thiam 2', 90+2' R. Cheshmi 7', 38' D. Shojaeian 17' Hossein Hosseini 83'	Stadium: Ghadir Stadium

1 March 2018 (2018-03-01) 25	Esteghlal	1 – 0	Persepolis	Tehran
15:45 IRST (UTC+03:30)	V. Ghafouri 43', 52' Thiam 45' Farshid Esmaeili 54' Djeparov 77'	Report		Stadium: Azadi Stadium

28 March 2018 (2018-03-28) 26	Naft Tehran	1 – 2	Esteghlal	Tehran
18:45 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Mohsen Bengar 37'	Report	J. Ansari 75' O. Noorafkan 88', 88'	Stadium: Takhti Stadium Referee: Seyed Mehdi Seyed Ali Man of the Match: Omid Noorafkan

6 April 2018 (2018-04-06) 27	Esteghlal	4 – 1	Siah Jamegan	Tehran
18:55 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	F.Esmaeili 50', 84' A. Ghorbani 67', 76'	Report	Ali Asgari 80'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Hossein Zargar Man of the Match: Farshid Esmaeili

11 April 2018 (2018-04-11) 28	Gostaresh	1 – 1	Esteghlal	Tabriz
17:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Reza Khaleghifar 57'	Report	A. Ghorbani 11'	Stadium: Bonyan Diesel Attendance: 1000 Man of the Match: A. Ghorbani 67'

22 April 2018 (2018-04-22) 29	Esteghlal	3 – 2	Paykan	Tehran
18:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M.Thiam 49' 34' V. Ghafouri 54' D. Shojaeian O. Ebrahimi 90'	Report		Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Ashkan Khorshidi Man of the Match: M.Thiam

27 April 2018 (2018-04-27) 30	Sepahan	0 – 1	Esteghlal	Isfahan
18:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)		Report	M.Thiam 11' O.Noorafkan 64'	Stadium: Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Mohammadreza Akbarian Man of the Match: M.Thiam

Hazfi Cup[edit]

8 September 2017 (2017-09-08) Round of 32	Gol Gohar	1 – 2	Esteghlal	Sirjan
17:45 DST+04:30	M. Gholami 76' (pen.)	Report	O. Noorafkan 56' K. Heydari 85'	Stadium: Gol Gohar Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Hossein Zargar

20 October 2017 (2017-10-20) Round of 16	Esteghlal	2 – 1	Nassaji	Tehran
16:45 IRST (UTC+03:30)	F. Esmaeili 28' A. Ghorbani 59'	Report	M. Ousani 71'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Referee: Mouood Bonyadifar

19 December 2017 (2017-12-19) Quarter Final	Esteghlal	3 – 0	Iranjavan Bushehr	Tehran
13:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Hosseini 45+4' S. Djeparov 50' A. Ghorbani 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Reza Adel

30 January 2018 (2018-01-30) Semi-Final	Sanat Naft Abadan	1 – 2	Esteghlal	Abadan
14:45 IRST (UTC+03:30)	L. Pereira 61'	Report	P. Montazeri 8' D. Shojaeian 44'	Stadium: Takhti Stadium Referee: Alireza Faghani

3 May 2018 (2018-05-03) Final	Esteghlal	1 – 0	Khooneh be Khooneh	Khorramshahr
17.15 DST+04:30	Mame Thiam 35'	Report		Stadium: Khorramshahr Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Hossein Zargar Man of the Match: Mame Thiam

AFC Champions League[edit]

Group stage[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Esteghlal	6	3	3	0	9	5	+4	12	Advance to knockout stage
2	Al-Ain	6	2	4	0	10	6	+4	10	Advance to knockout stage
3	Al-Rayyan	6	1	3	2	7	11	−4	6
4	Al-Hilal	6	0	2	4	3	7	−4	2

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

13 February 2018 (2018-02-13)	Al-Rayyan	2 – 2	Esteghlal	Doha, Qatar
18:10 UTC+3	Hamdallah 18' Tabata 28'	Report	Tabata 6' (o.g.) Ghorbani 88'	Stadium: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 5,038 Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

20 February 2018 (2018-02-20)	Esteghlal	1 – 0	Al-Hilal	Muscat, Oman
19:30 UTC+4	Thiam 46'	Report		Stadium: Al-sib Stadium Attendance: 4,175 Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

6 March 2018 (2018-03-06)	Al-Ain	2 – 2	Esteghlal	Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
19:20 UTC+4	Berg 63' Khalil 89' (pen.)	Report	Thiam 52', 77'	Attendance: 10,036 Referee: Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia)

12 March 2018 (2018-03-12)	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Al-Ain	Tehran, Iran
--:-- UTC+3:30	Thiam 42' (pen.)		Shiotani 78'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 90000

2 April 2018 (2018-04-02)	Esteghlal	2 – 0	Al-Rayyan	Tehran, Iran
--:-- UTC+4:30	Server Djeparov 3' Vouria Ghafouri 58' (pen.)			Stadium: Azadi Stadium

16 April 2018 (2018-04-16)	Al-Hilal	0 – 1	Esteghlal	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
--:-- UTC+3		Report	Vouria Ghafouri 36'	Stadium: Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium Attendance: 4500

Round of 16[edit]

8 May 2018 (2018-05-08) First leg	Zob Ahan	1 – 0	Esteghlal	Esfahan, Iran
	Gvelesiani 92' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Foolad Shahr Stadium Attendance: 15,000

15 May 2018 (2018-05-15) Second leg	Esteghlal	3 – 1 (3 – 2 agg.)	Zob Ahan	Tehran, Iran
20:45 --:-- UTC+4:30	M. Thiam 11' (pen.), 41', 64'	Report	G. Hadadifar 65'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 75,680 Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals[edit]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Iran Pro League		Hazfi Cup		Champions League
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	IRN	Mehdi Rahmati	18	0	10	0	4	0	4	0
2	DF	IRN	Khosro Heydari	25	1	15	0	4	1	6	0
4	MF	IRN	Roozbeh Cheshmi	38	3	26	3	5	0	7	0
5	DF	IRN	Majid Hosseini	33	1	24	0	4	1	5	0
6	MF	IRN	Omid Ebrahimi	33	2	23	2	4	0	6	0
9	FW	IRN	Ali Ghorbani	40	9	27	6	5	2	8	1
11	FW	IRN	Jaber Ansari	26	4	22	4	1	0	3	0
13	DF	IRN	Armin Sohrabian	13	0	8	0	1	0	4	0
14	MF	IRN	Farshid Bagheri	30	0	18	0	5	0	7	0
16	MF	IRN	Mehdi Ghaedi	14	0	12	0	2	0	0	0
18	DF	IRN	Milad Zakipour	25	0	21	0	2	0	2	0
20	MF	UZB	Server Djeparov	39	6	26	4	5	1	8	1
21	DF	IRN	Vouria Ghafouri	36	6	24	4	4	0	8	2
22	GK	IRN	Hossein Hosseini	25	0	20	0	1	0	4	0
23	MF	IRN	Dariush Shojaeian	33	5	24	4	3	1	6	0
24	MF	IRN	Omid Noorafkan	34	2	24	1	4	1	6	0
25	FW	SEN	Mame Baba Thiam	13	12	6	4	1	1	6	7
27	MF	IRN	Hossein Heydari	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	IRN	Mohsen Karimi	6	3	5	3	1	0	0	0
33	DF	IRN	Pejman Montazeri	25	1	15	0	3	1	7	0
70	MF	IRN	Mohammad Javad Mohammadi	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
77	MF	IRN	Behnam Barzay	8	1	5	1	1	0	2	0
80	DF	MKD	Bojan Najdenov	5	0	4	0	0	0	1	0
88	MF	IRN	Farshid Esmaeili	34	6	23	5	4	1	7	0
90	DF	BRA	Leandro Padovani	8	0	6	0	2	0	0	0
Players transferred out during the season
7	FW	IRN	Hassan Beyt Saeed	10	0	9	0	1	0	0	0
8	MF	IRN	Mojtaba Jabbari	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW	IRN	Sajjad Shahbazzadeh	9	0	8	0	1	0	0	0
17	DF	IRN	Yaghoub Karimi	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
30	DF	IRN	Azim Gök	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Last updated: 27 April 2018 (2018-04-27)
Source: Competitions

Goalscorers[edit]

Rank	No.	Pos.	Name	Pro League	Hazfi Cup	AFC CL	Total
1	25	FW	Mame Baba Thiam	4	1	7	12
2	9	FW	Ali Ghorbani	7	2	1	10
3	88	CM	Farshid Esmaeili	5	1	0	6
	20	CM	Server Djeparov	4	1	1	6
	21	DF	Vouria Ghafouri	4	0	2	6
4	23	CM	Dariush Shojaeian	4	1	0	5
5	11	FW	Jaber Ansari	4	0	0	4
6	28	FW	Mohsen Karimi	3	0	0	3
6	4	MF	Roozbeh Cheshmi	3	0	0	3
7	6	MF	Omid Ebrahimi	2	0	0	2
7	24	MF	Omid Noorafkan	1	1	0	2
8	77	FW	Behnam Barzay	1	0	0	1
	2	DF	Khosro Heydari	0	1	0	1
	5	DF	Majid Hosseini	0	1	0	1
	33	DF	Pejman Montazeri	0	1	0	1
Totals				42	10	11	63

Last updated: 16 May 2018 (2018-05-16)

Clean sheets[edit]

Rank	Name	Pro League	Hazfi Cup	AFC CL	Total
1	Hossein Hosseini	10	0	1	11
2	Mehdi Rahmati	6	2	2	10
Total		16	2	3	21

Disciplinary record[edit]

Includes all competitive matches. Players with 1 card or more are included only.

N	P	Nat.	Name							Notes
N	P	Nat.	Name	Pro League		Hazfi Cup	AFC CL	Total		Notes
1	GK		Mehdi Rahmati	1		1	1	3
4	MF		Roozbeh Cheshmi	8			2	10
14	MF		Farshid Bagheri	4		1		5
16	FW		Mehdi Ghaedi			1		1
18	DF		Milad Zakipour	3		2		5
23	MF		Dariush Shojaeian	4	1	1	1	6	1
88	MF		Farshid Esmaeili				1	1

Last updated: 7 August 2017 (2017-08-07)
Source: Matches
Only competitive matches
= Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

References[edit]

^ "آی‌تی‌سی مهاجم استقلال از یوونتوس رسید". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-02-06.
^ قائدی رسما استقلالی شد
^ استقلال از رده پایه بازیکن گرفت
^ استقلال یک جوان دیگر هم جذب کرد
^ بیت سعید بالاخره آبی‌پوش شد
^ سجاد شهباززاده به خانه اش برگشت
^ داریوش شجاعیان به استقلال پیوست
^ مدافع تیم ملی امید استقلالی شد
^ پژمان منتظری به استقلال پیوست
^ محمدی به استقلال پیوست
^ سهرابیان آبی پوش شد
^ مجتبی جباری به استقلال پیوست
^ "بازیکن سابق پرسپولیس دراستقلال". ورزش سه (in Persian). 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
^ "رسمی؛ چپاروف در استقلال ماندنی شد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-07-10.
^ "رسمی؛ برزای استقلالی شد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-11-05.
^ "بویان نایدنوف به استقلال پیوست". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-02-05.
^ "آی‌تی‌سی مهاجم استقلال از یوونتوس رسید". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-02-06.
^ "کنعانی‌زادگان صید جدید دایی برای سایپا". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-07-05.
^ بازیکن استقلال به سایپا پیوست
^ علیرضا سیار با اشک از استقلال جدا شد
^ ستاره‌ی امیدهای استقلال به گسترش پیوست
^ هافبک استقلال به سپیدرود پیوست
^ با استقلال سه ساله تمدید کردم چون انگیزه‌های زیادی دارم
^ جدایی ناگهانی کاوه رضایی از استقلال(عکس)
^ "مهرداد لشنی به مس رفسنجان پیوست". پارس فوتبال (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-08-06.
^ "رضایت نامه بازیکن استقلال برای نفت صادر شد". باشگاه خبرنگاران (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-08-09.
^ "مهاجم استقلال به آلومینیوم اراک پیوست". خبرگزاری دانشجو (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-08-22.
^ "بیت‌سعید به فولاد خوزستان پیوست". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-12-18.
^ "مدافع تیم فوتبال استقلال به ملوان پیوست". خبرگزاری مهر (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-12-30.
^ "یعقوب کریمی به استقلال خوزستان پیوست". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-01-10.
^ "باشگاه استقلال قرارداد جباری را یکطرفه فسخ کرد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-01-15.
^ "رسمی: شهباززاده بازیکن القطر شد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-01-18.
^ "PERSIAN GULF PRO LEAGUE/2018 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2017.

External links[edit]

[table_note_res_RUEL0.1515517463682-33] Esteghlal qualified to AFC Champions League group stage directly by winning the Hazfi Cup

[1] "آی‌تی‌سی مهاجم استقلال از یوونتوس رسید". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-02-06.

[2] قائدی رسما استقلالی شد

[3] استقلال از رده پایه بازیکن گرفت

[4] استقلال یک جوان دیگر هم جذب کرد

[5] بیت سعید بالاخره آبی‌پوش شد

[6] سجاد شهباززاده به خانه اش برگشت

[7] داریوش شجاعیان به استقلال پیوست

[8] مدافع تیم ملی امید استقلالی شد

[9] پژمان منتظری به استقلال پیوست

[10] محمدی به استقلال پیوست

[11] سهرابیان آبی پوش شد

[12] مجتبی جباری به استقلال پیوست

[13] "بازیکن سابق پرسپولیس دراستقلال". ورزش سه (in Persian). 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2017-07-03.

[14] "رسمی؛ چپاروف در استقلال ماندنی شد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-07-10.

[15] "رسمی؛ برزای استقلالی شد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-11-05.

[16] "بویان نایدنوف به استقلال پیوست". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-02-05.

[17] "آی‌تی‌سی مهاجم استقلال از یوونتوس رسید". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-02-06.

[18] "کنعانی‌زادگان صید جدید دایی برای سایپا". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-07-05.

[19] بازیکن استقلال به سایپا پیوست

[20] علیرضا سیار با اشک از استقلال جدا شد

[21] ستاره‌ی امیدهای استقلال به گسترش پیوست

[22] هافبک استقلال به سپیدرود پیوست

[23] با استقلال سه ساله تمدید کردم چون انگیزه‌های زیادی دارم

[24] جدایی ناگهانی کاوه رضایی از استقلال(عکس)

[25] "مهرداد لشنی به مس رفسنجان پیوست". پارس فوتبال (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-08-06.

[26] "رضایت نامه بازیکن استقلال برای نفت صادر شد". باشگاه خبرنگاران (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-08-09.

[27] "مهاجم استقلال به آلومینیوم اراک پیوست". خبرگزاری دانشجو (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-08-22.

[28] "بیت‌سعید به فولاد خوزستان پیوست". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-12-18.

[29] "مدافع تیم فوتبال استقلال به ملوان پیوست". خبرگزاری مهر (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-12-30.

[30] "یعقوب کریمی به استقلال خوزستان پیوست". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-01-10.

[31] "باشگاه استقلال قرارداد جباری را یکطرفه فسخ کرد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-01-15.

[32] "رسمی: شهباززاده بازیکن القطر شد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2018-01-18.

[34] "PERSIAN GULF PRO LEAGUE/2018 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[a]

[33]